PRESS RELEASE

 

 

Seed funding from community projects funder ASB Community Trust will reopen public access to Auckland’s historic treasure, Home Bay, Motutapu.

 

 

The Trust has allocated $490,000  to the Motutapu Restoration Trust’s rebuild of the Hauraki Gulf island’s Home Bay wharf and restoration of the Reid Homestead as a visitor centre.

Motutapu trust chairperson Chris Fletcher said the funding guarantees that the $1.9 million project will go ahead, allowing thousands of visitors easy access to a “heartland” experience which is nearby, but often inaccessible.

“People can come here and experience what it means to be New Zealanders,” she said. “As an ecological project, this is the most significant newly created forest in New Zealand.”

ASB Community Trust CEO Jennifer Gill said a strong influence on the grant decision was the huge volunteer commitment the project has attracted over the past 10 years. More than 350,000 trees have been grown on the island and planted out in selected sites.

“This work has been achieved through the support and dedication of over 1000 volunteeers, who have given their time towards this ecological and educational project,” she said.

Reopening of the Home Bay wharf will give access to the public campground and the “Walk Motutapu” walkway, so the whole project is in line with one of ASB Community Trust's main strategies - supporting initiatives that preserve the region’s heritage and protect the environment.

(ENDS)